The long answer: Sandia's precursor was Z Division, created in 1945 as the ordnance design, testing, and assembly arm of Los Alamos. The Division quickly moved to Sandia Base to be near an airfield and work closely with the military. In 1948, Z Division's growth prompted its designation as Sandia Laboratory, a separate branch of Los Alamos. But the growth continued and the Atomic Energy Commission began to look for an industrial firm to manage the engineering facility. President Harry Truman asked AT&T to accept managerial responsibility of Sandia. Western Electric, AT&T's manufacturing arm, accepted the management role on a no-profit, no-fee basis. On November 1, 1949, Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Electric, began managing Sandia. Sandia was made a national laboratory in 1979. In 1993, Martin Marietta took over Sandia's management contract and two years later merged with Lockheed to become Lockheed Martin.
